Are you a part of the third of Canadians looking to change location after the pandemic? Aviva Canada’s How We Live Report revealed in June 2021 that a large part of Canada's population is thinking about moving to rural areas and focusing on large open spaces, like renovating their backyards.
Sutton Realty is one of Canada's biggest and most trusted real estate agencies with over 7,500 realtors ready to help homeowners find their dream homes. If you're considering relocation, Sutton Realty is a great option for your buying and selling process.
Before you take the dive, however, you'll want to learn more about Sutton Realty and its services. In this guide, we'll cover all you need to know so that you can have the home search and buying process you've always wanted.
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What Is Sutton Realty?
Sutton Realty is a real estate franchise owned by Sutton Group. Sutton Realty has over 200 locations and 7,500 realtors. The corporation started in 1983 in North Vancouver, but it is now headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia.
Scott Shaw and Lance Tracey founded Sutton together, but 30 years later, they began looking for someone qualified and passionate to take over. Drew Kennedy has now been the CEO of Sutton since 2015. Shaw and Tracey knew Sutton would be in the right hands, as Drew was involved in the real estate industry for 20 years.
Which Areas Does Sutton Realty Cover?
Sutton Realty is headquartered in Burnaby, British Columbia. They now have offices in every region. Some of the most popular areas they offer services in are:
- Vancouver
- Winnipeg
- Surrey
- Ottawa
- Toronto
- Edmonton
- Halifax
Some other popular searches for their realty services include Saskatoon, Victoria, St. John's and Regina. In all of these areas, Sutton Realty can help find condos, investment properties, luxury homes, and more.
Why Choose Sutton Realty?
Sutton Realty is one of the largest real estate franchises in Canada, and they've gotten to that point by being extremely helpful to their clients and matching buyers to sellers with great success. One of the reasons Sutton Realty has stayed on top is that they have fully embraced how technology is changing the real estate industry. In particular, they have an excellent online search tool for anyone to look for homes for sale.
Here are some reasons why Sutton Realty might be the best choice for your buying and selling experience.
Real Estate Options
Unlike other types of investments, real estate investing doesn't happen with stocks. It is done largely by buyers browsing the housing market for opportunities for profit.
Sutton Realty is a huge franchise, so they're well equipped to handle a large variety of real estate options. Part of this range of services is to help you find investment properties. Whether you're looking to invest in a family home or you want to get a rental property, Sutton Realty can help.
Sutton Realty can help you find:
- Houses
- Row homes
- Townhouses
- Apartments
- Duplexes
- Triplexes
- Fourplexes
With all these options, you're sure to find exactly the type of property you're looking for.
Filtering Options
Sutton Realty offers a robust online platform for seeing all the available houses on the market, booking calls and tours with agents, and more. One of the best features of this online platform is that you can use a filter to find specifically what properties you want.
For example, you can filter the available properties according to location or building type. Then, you can input a price range and specific features such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Some other filtering options include:
- Architectural style
- Amenities
- Appliances
- Climate control type
- View
- Features
- Parking
This comprehensive searching platform, as you can see, offers way more filtering options than most other online real estate search platforms. It will be easier than ever to narrow down your search to exactly what property you're dreaming about.
Commission and Selling Cost
Sutton Realty is extremely transparent and helpful when it comes to budgeting for your new property and selling costs. Sutton Realty agents are self-employed, so they work on 100% commission. Helping clients sell and buy homes successfully, therefore, is their main concern.
When it comes to seller costs, Sutton Realty sets the agent's commission fee at 4% of the purchase price. Sutton Realty also can provide a lawyer for preparing all the necessary documents, and this comes at a fee of 1% of the purchase price.
Some other costs they explain are mortgage discharge penalties and the utility and property tax adjustments.
If you are selling your home without paying off the mortgage first, there is often a penalty charged to switch lenders or pull out of the contract before its end date.
If you aren't up to date on paying taxes or utilities, you'll be responsible for this at the time of closing as well. Sutton Realty's lawyer will help you gather the information on these extra costs and make sure money is set aside to pay these at the time of closing.
Specialties
Sutton Realty has a wide network of experts in all categories for real estate. When it comes to specialties, they focus on both residential and commercial properties for management, brokerage, development, sales, leasing, and more. They also offer investment sales, site selection, and acquisition.
They are also able to offer property valuation and exclusive client representation for tenants, buyers, landlords, and owners.
Experience
Sutton Realty is full of agents that are empowered and supported by a company that puts them at the center of the transaction. They're encouraged to be entrepreneurs and get creative with their work, so they can tailor their services to their clients' needs.
Sutton Realty has been in the business for almost 40 years, and they've grown tremendously to be one of the top franchises in the country. Their Sutton Spirit program encourages agents to be involved in the community not just by helping clients find homes, but by enhancing the lives of those in their area.
Sutton Realty Brokerage
Sutton Realty brokerage acts as the facilitator between you and the other party. Using a Sutton Realty agent means you can relax and let your agent do the hard work for you. As a real estate broker, they will find properties for sale that meet your needs and mediate between you and the seller.
Sutton Realty Brokerage has vast access to resources and expertise that they can share with their clients. Their website offer blogs, tips, advice, and more.
Sutton Realty Agents
Because Sutton Realty is such a large real estate franchise in Canada, there are endless agents to choose from. You can attend open houses to meet several agents in person, especially those working in the neighbourhoods that interest you. Take note of agents who appear on signs for houses similar to your own or the ones you're interested in, as they'll be an expert in the areas you want to look for houses in.
Sutton Realty agents also receive a lot of support and resources from their firms because it is such a large franchise. Agents for Sutton Realty get excellent support in building their social media networks, communication channels like email newsletters, and get great discounts they can share with their clients.
Find a Sutton Realty Agent
Sutton Realty believes in getting clients their perfect agent match. They have a wealth of resources on their blog and website that give advice on finding the right agent and working with them to buy your dream home.
There are many other resources online that help you find agents in your area with the right expertise. Companies like Remax offer listings of agents in Canada that you can browse online. Peruse the listings by area to find the perfect agent for your needs.
Sutton Realty App
Beyond keeping their website fresh and up to date with great technology, Sutton Realty also has a mobile phone app. You can log in using a new account for the app or with an existing Facebook or Google account.
On this app, you can view agent profiles and their connections, much like on a Facebook profile. The profiles will tell you what their job title is and what specialties they have. You can also access lists of trusted home service professionals and local businesses recommended by Sutton Realty agents.
Buying on Sutton Realty
Sutton Realty prioritizes the buyer and seller's experience while working with a Sutton Realty agent. In order to make the process as easy and streamlined as possible, Sutton Realty offers an online search platform as well as a resources page specifically for buyers.
On their buyer's resources page, they offer advice in four categories:
- First-time home buyers
- Home renovations
- Health tips
- General buying advice
In the first category, first-time home buyers, Sutton Realty publishes articles to help new homebuyers understand the buying process and their options for financing. In the second category, home renovations, homeowners old and new can get advice on the best ways to renovate and save money.
The health tips category gives lifestyle, repair, and cleaning advice for maintaining a healthy home. The general category gives advice for anyone looking into the real estate process.
On their home search platform, you can use very detailed filters to narrow down your search and find exactly the property that fits your goals. They also have a map feature in which you can locate available homes according to areas you're interested in.
When you click on a home listing, you can open up a full profile, complete with pictures of the property, specifications and features, and a description written by the selling agent. You can also get an estimation of monthly costs, an overview of what the neighbourhood offers, and even a built-in mortgage calculator!
If you find a home you like, you can save it to your personal list to show to your real estate agent.
Selling on Sutton Realty
If you're looking to sell your home, you can easily do so by connecting with an agent. You can call agents directly to try to meet them, or you can start attending open houses in areas you like to meet agents who are present. Once you find the agent that fits your needs, you can enter into a partnership with them.
Sutton Realty offers free home valuation so that you can be sure your home is priced right to sell. You'll receive a free report of similar properties in the area so that you can price your home competitively while still getting a good value.
When the real estate agent puts your property up for sale, they'll put up the Sutton Realty sign on your lawn, arrange a photoshoot of your property, and build the online profile. After all that is finished, your home will be listed on the Sutton Realty site for all homebuyers to see.
Just like for buyers, Sutton Realty also offers a specific page dedicated to resources for sellers. Categories include showcasing, listings, contracts, and finding the right agent.
The showcasing category helps you prepare your property for the market while the listing category helps you understand the process of getting your property listed online.
The contracts category explains all the documents and steps of the selling process, and the 'finding an agent' category gives advice on choosing the perfect agent for your situation.
Renting on Sutton Realty
Unfortunately, Sutton Realty's property search tool is not optimized to find available spaces for rent. However, you can contact a Sutton Realty office to talk to an agent about finding rentals in your area. Or, you can search for regional offices' websites such as iTorontorentals.com, which offers a listing and search platform for Toronto rentals and other nearby rentals.
The Reviews
On Facebook, Sutton Realty has 3.8 out of 5 stars from 38 reviews. Most of the reviews talk about personal experiences with agents, which is what the Sutton Realty experience is about. While Sutton Realty offers a great online search platform, many of the clients rave about how personalized and human their experience with a Sutton Realty agent is.
Be Smart About Real Estate
Sutton Realty is one of the best franchises in Canada for real estate buying, selling, and investing. Knowing about their services is the first step to deciding if they are the right company for you.
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